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Penstowe Castle, Kilkhampton

In the civil parish of Kilkhampton. In the historic county of Cornwall (Modern Authority of Cornwall, 1974 county of Cornwall).

This site has been described as a;
Timber Castle.
  Confidence: This site was certainly a medieval fortification or palace.   Earthworks remains.
Earthworks of a motte and bailey, possibly an adulterine castle which was destroyed during the reign of Henry II (1154-89). Excavations on the motte, in 1950, located buildings and C12 pottery. Motte measured 18m east-west by 8m north-south and had an approximate height of 9.3m. It was separated from the inner bailey by a ditch 8m wide and 3.6m deep. Inner bailey was rectangular in plan, it measured 32m east-west by 26m north-south and was surrounded by a rampart 9m wide and 2.4m high on the east side. The north and south sides were defined by a bank 2m wide and 0.5m high. The outer bailey was separated from the inner bailey by a V-shaped ditch 7m wide and 1.5m deep. It measured 26m east-west by 17m north-south. Traces of a rampart, 3m wide and 1.2m high, were identified on the east side. No traces of buildings were identified in either of the baileys. (PastScape)
The Ordnance Survey Map Grid Reference is SS24311158

Air Photo from multimap logo

Air Photo and general mapping

1st edition OS Map from old maps logo

Mid to late 19th century maps

Modern Map from Ordnance Survey logo

Landscape form and features

Modern Map from streetmap logo

General location and route planning

Geograph British Isles geography.org.uk logo
occasionally has photos of the site and will usually give an idea of the surrounding landscape.

Sources of information, references and further reading

This site's English Heritage (PastScape) Defra or Monument number is 32229
This site's County Historic Environment Record (formerly Sites and Monuments Record) number is 90167*0 'grey' literature, such as watching brief reports, held by H.E.R.s is often poorly referenced and is unlikely to be recorded in this website.

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The information on this web page may be derived from information compiled by and/or copyright of English Heritage and other individuals and organisations. All the sources given should be consulted to identify the original copyright holder and permission obtained from them before use of the information on this site for commercial purposes. I do not receive any income from this site and I fund it myself.
The bibliography owes much to various bibliographies produced by John Kenyon for the Council for British Archaeology, the Castle Studies Group and others.
Suggestions for finding online and/or hard copies of bibliographical sources can be seen at this link.
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This record last updated on Thursday, December 17, 2009

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